


Love Left Uncharted [Silent]

by dreamerfreak



Series: YOI Angst Week Ficlets [6]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Angst, Disability, Gen, Memory Loss, Muteness, selective mutism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-12
Updated: 2020-11-12
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:14:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27435652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamerfreak/pseuds/dreamerfreak
Summary: Yuuri is no longer sure that he remember aBefore. The silver-haired man who drags him out of his dungeon might have answers... if only he could speak.Promo Drabble for YOI Angst Week 2020 (December 7-13).
Series: YOI Angst Week Ficlets [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1954669
Comments: 6
Kudos: 23
Collections: YOI Angst Week 2020





	Love Left Uncharted [Silent]

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome back, fronds!
> 
> I wrote this little snippet as promo for YOI Angst Week 2020, for the Day 6 prompt Silent/Sacrifice. You can find more information about Angst Week at [Twitter](https://twitter.com/yoiangstweek) and [Tumblr](https://yoiangstweek.tumblr.com/). Please mind the tags and stay safe.
> 
> Thank you to [Kathe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mandolinearts/pseuds/katheneverwrites) for being brilliant and helping me with titles. This title is from The Navigator by Vian Izak.

Yuuri didn’t know what was happening when the guard came for him. It was the new one that had come earlier in the day, with the blue and silver uniform that was different from his previous guards. He had been accompanied by a silver-haired man wearing a fancier version of the same uniform. That one radiated importance and authority, and he smirked in a way that made Yuuri think that he _knew_ things. Yuuri had huddled in the back of his cell and not moved, the way he usually did. It was the best way to avoid trouble, he had learned over the past months. Or had it been years? He wasn’t sure anymore. Time had become fuzzy around the edges, and he couldn’t remember things that he knew he should.

But he did know that change was not a good thing, and things had changed today. The sounds of rumbling and shouting that had filtered down the damp stone corridors of the dungeons, the whispers of the guards. They had left hours ago, and now the guards who returned wore different uniforms in different colors. Something in the back of his mind stirred uneasily, but Yuuri couldn’t grasp the meaning of it. He just knew it wasn’t good. And the silver-haired man couldn’t be good either.

So when the guard came back, alone, Yuuri felt a sinking emotion that he thought was maybe relief until the guard unlocked the door and gestured for him to come out. Yuuri didn’t move.

Yuuri hadn’t left the cell for… Had he ever left the cell? Had he always been here? No, that couldn’t be right. He held his heads in his hands and refused to look at the increasingly impatient guard. He couldn’t remember. Maybe he _had_ always been here.

The guard sighed and entered the cell. Yuuri didn’t try to run or fight. That was useless, he knew ( _how did he know that?_ ), but he stiffened even as he allowed himself to be pulled to his feet and dragged out of his cell.

At that point things got fuzzy again. Things hadn’t gotten fuzzy like that in a while, Yuuri thought, because the old guards had left him alone. Sometimes they took him out to a courtyard where they splashed him with water and those times were blotchy and confusing, but otherwise he was left alone in his little cell, safe from… something. There was something that he was safe from here.

When he knew where he was again, the guard was still holding his arm, but he was talking to him as well. Green eyes floated in front of his face and words filled the air between them, but Yuuri didn’t know what they were. They sounded like strings breaking and maybe something dripping to the floor, and Yuuri stared, trying hard to focus. Eventually, he wasn’t sure how long, the guard seemed to calm down and he pushed Yuuri gently down to his knees. Yuuri followed without protest.

He was left alone for a bit, and slowly the room around him came into focus. It was… bright, much brighter than his small, safe cell. The floors and walls gleamed in the sunlight that streamed through tall, narrow windows. A huge chair sat against one wall, surrounded by decorations that Yuuri was sure meant something. It all felt familiar, like Yuuri should know what this place was, but no words came to him.

The guard returned, accompanied again by the silver-haired man, and Yuuri felt his body go stiff. Something felt trapped in his throat, suddenly, and his breath hitched in a panicked hiccup. He couldn’t pull his eyes away from the man. His chest felt tight and his stomach ached.

Noticing Yuuri’s attention, the man smirked, the same expression he’d had before, in the dungeon, and now it made Yuuri worry. What did this man know? Would Yuuri still be safe here? Was anywhere safe?

He sauntered closer and Yuuri felt like his muscles were seizing. For once he wanted to flee— _something was wrong, something was going to happen_ —but he couldn’t move, could hardly even breathe. The man cupped Yuuri’s chin and leaned down, close, until the warmth of his breath brushed over Yuuri’s face. His silver hair fell forward over his eye, highlighting the glittering blue that was so… so… something, something Yuuri should know, something he should remember. His thoughts spun into a paralyzing welter.

“Hello, Yuuri. I finally did as you asked,” he murmured. “I came for you.”

Yuuri’s breath was coming in tiny pants. He was too close, too present, and Yuuri was trapped.

“Hmm, nothing to say? We had a deal, you know, _Yuuuri_.” His hand stroked Yuuri’s cheek then tightened around his jaw when he didn’t respond, his smirk shifting into a scowl.

Yuuri felt chilled. He was… he was forgetting something, something important. Did this man know him? From before? (There was a _Before_ , wasn’t there? Some days he was sure of it, but other times it felt impossible for there to be something _Before_.) But if there was a Before and this man knew him, then… Something… something was… _Something—_

He was shaken out of his spiraling panic by a shove that sent him tumbling to his butt. He couldn’t make a sound, a surprised gasp stuck in his throat. The man glared down at him now, his blue eyes blazing in anger that was almost incandescent. A shiver started in Yuuri’s fingertips.

“I see.” The words were pronounced with a cool precision that only emphasized the rage that Yuuri could see growing in the other man, in the way that his knuckles went white and his mouth pinched taut. “It’s going to be like that, then.”

 _Like what_ , Yuuri wanted to ask, but he couldn’t. It was… There was something… What was he forgetting?

But the man turned away and called for the guard, and Yuuri lost any opportunity to grasp for some kind of meaning in the exchange… if something so one-sided could be called that.

The same green-eyed guard came to pull him to his feet again and ushered him from the room. The hallways were just as bright and gilded as the room had been and Yuuri craved the quiet dark of his cell. But as they traveled on, the hallways didn’t get darker or more dirty; if anything, Yuuri saw more people scurrying and striding and shuffling, far more than he would have expected for the route back to the dungeons. With a sudden premonition, he dug his heels into the plush carpet and dragged his guard to a stop.

Words tumbled in his head, but Yuuri just stared in silent confusion at the guard. He stared back for a moment before sighing and stepping closer. “I’m just taking you to the Commander’s room, okay? No one will bother you there. Yuuri, right?” He tugged lightly on Yuuri’s arm until he reluctantly started moving again. He laughed lightly, giving Yuuri a sly look that just confused him more. “He’s been waiting a long time, huh? Don’t disappoint him.”

With that, the guard stopped in front of a door and pulled out a key to unlock it. Somewhere along the way, the hall had emptied out and they were the only ones here. He shooed Yuuri into the room and smiled cheerfully. “Wait here,” he said, and the door was closed and locked again.

Yuuri waited right there. He knew better than to make any trouble for the guards. He glanced around the room as he waited—a bedroom, with a massive four-poster bed as the centerpiece—but it was filled with such a riot of colors that Yuuri found it hard to look at for too long. Eventually, he sunk to a crouch in the same spot and buried his face in his knees. He would wait _right here_ , just like he was supposed to, for however long it took. His heart was pounding and bile kept creeping up the back of his throat, but he waited.

He waited.

**Author's Note:**

> If you have questions about this little adventure... please know that so do I. 😅 If I ever figure out the rest of the story behind this scene, just know that my AO3 page will be the second place to find out... right after my discord server.
> 
> Be sure to check out the rest of the series for more deliciously angsty drabbles from the lovely [aceofjapan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aceofjapan/pseuds/aceofjapan) and me.
> 
> Bug me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/lexical_dreamer) to keep writing for Angst Week! I have a few ideas if I can get my fingers typing. I hope some of you will join us in December as well!


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